Divided rail



J. A. LETHERBY.

DIVIDED RAIL.

APPLICATION FILED Nov. 22, 1921.

1,424,657., .memem 1, 1922..

INVENT OR JOHN A. LETHERBY at stares PATENT w it:

nrvnonn RAIL.

Specification of Letters Patent.

?atented Aug. 1, 19 22.

Application filed November 23, 1921. Serial No. 512 .339.

To all to hem it may concern:

Be it known that 1, JOHN AMos Lnrnnnor, a subject of the King of Great Britain, and a resident of the town of Midland, in the county of Simcoe, in the Province of Ontario, Canada, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Divided Rails, of which the following is the specification.

My invention relates to improvements in divided rails and the object of the invention is to devise a rail of this type which will be so constructed that the weight of the load will be carried by both members so that there will be no tendency for one member to yield under the weight of the load more than the other and therefore prevent any unevenness of wear due to this cause on the upper surface of the rail head and it consists essentially of the arrangement and construction'of parts hereinafter more particularly explained.

Fig.1 is a perspective view of a rail section broken away intermediately of its length and constructed in accordance with my invention.

Fig. 2 is a plan view of the track rail as illustrated in Fig. 1..

Fig. 3 is an enlarged cross sectional View through my rail as illustrated in Figs. 1 and 2.

In the drawings like characters of reference indicate corresponding parts in each figure.

1 and 2 indicate two half rail sections. Each rail forming my track is divided longitudinally into half rails, such half rail sections being arranged in two longitudinal series, the half rail sections of one series breaking joint with the half rail sections of the other series as illustrated in Figs. 1 and 2. The joints between one series of rails are located at 3 and 4 and the joints between the other series of rails as illustrated at 5. Each half rail section of the series 2 is provided, in proximity to each end, with a pair of slotted openings 6 and 7 which are in alignment with similar openings formed in the series of half rails 1 intermediately of their length.

The series of half rails 2 are provided at each end with similar slotted openings as illustrated at 8 which are in alignment with the openings formed in the half rails of the the series 1 intermediately of their length.

It will be particularly noted by referring to Fig. 3 that the inner opposing faces 01 the half rails torming the series 1 and 2 are lnolincd outward from the top towards the bottom so as to form an intervening space which will enable the half rail heads to draw tight together even though the opposing faces are not in contact towards their base. The heads of the half rails 1 and 2 are preferably bevelled at each side of the complete rail as indicated at 9 and 10, the edges being rounded off, thereby insuring of the wheel of the railway coach travelling upon the summit of the rail. The half rail sections are connected together by bolts 11 which extend. through the slotted openings 6 and 7 and 8, thereby securely holding both series of half rails together.

The openings 6, 7 and 8 are preferably in the form of slots extending longitudinally of the rail so as to permit of the free expansion and contraction of the rail due to temperature changes. In order to insure that each member of each pair of half rail sections 1 and 2 bear the load equally I have provided one half rail section in its inner face with a recess 11 which is preferably ratchet shape, the outer edge of such recess coinciding with the upper inner edge of the rail section 2. I have provided the other member 1 with a projection 12 corresponding in shape to the recess 11 into which the projection 12 fits. The recess 11 and projection 12 may extend continuously from one end of each rail section 1 and 2 or it may be inthe form of suitably spaced apart recesses and correspondingly spaced apart projections fitting into such recesses.

Although I show the recess 11 and projection 12 of ratchet shape it will of course be understood that many other forms may be employed, but the ratchet shape recess and projection are preferable for the reason that the upper edge of a recess can more readily coincide with the inner upper edge of the rail section in which it is formed, or in other words is located centrally of the complete rail.

It will thus be seen that when the weight of the railway rolling stock comes upon the rail section 1 which is the innermost section, the tendency for the rail section 1 to be depressed is transmitted by the projection 12 fitting within the recess 11 by means cesses are used in which corresponding projections fit, that such recesses would have to be slightly Wider than the projections in order to permit of free expansion and contraction.

What I claim as my invention is:

A divided rail comprising tWo series of half rail sections, a ratchet shaped recess formed in the ball of one rail section, a correspondingly shaped projection extending from the opposing section so as to fit into the recess, and-a web portion extending downward from each ball portion and having a straight inner face Which portions slightly diverge towards the bottom or foot of the rail.

JOHN AMos LETHERBY; 

